We arrived at Mooiplaas picnic site late yesterday afternoon and couldnt believe our eyes when we witnessed a Elephant charging a lady going to the toilets. The old bull came out of nowhere and the poor victim reached the comfort of the restroom just in time... a VERY close call in my book!!! Needless to say, her husband did a footrace back to the car which can be rated as a worldclass athletics performance. Soon after the charge the elephant left the scene and a very shaky and pale lady appeared from her hideout.

Now I'm wondering, have you ever experienced something similar or had animals 'visiting' whilst having your picnic.

_________________To be or not to be, that is the question...I am and I want to be!!!

We had an interesting incident on the 21st of August at Mooiplaas. First we had a bull elephant charge us on the tar road close to the access road to Mooiplaas. On the access road we saw 2 other bull elephants in the mopani trees fairly close to the picnic site. We arrived at Mooiplaas for brunch and set up the gas braai under the thatch overlooking the river, my husband and children went off for water and cooldrinks. Suddenly I saw there were 2 elephants between me and the rest of the family, they were eating trees and quite relaxed and every one else had spotted them and stayed put. These 2 walked over the path and carried on down the river, now I was wondering were the last one was. Finally spotted him close to the ladies loos in the bush seemingly waiting for a victim. Fortunately Phinius had seen him and seemed aware that he was troublesome and bundled the family into the ladies loos. This bull then walked among the cars and over the path giving those of us under the thatch roof a long knee-trembling look; then proceeded to rip apart a large tree very close to the picnic site with a lot of noise and head shaking and dust. Phineas tried pressuring him to move on, only to be mock charged several times. After about 40 minutes did this bull move off and we were able to finally get some brunch. Strangely there was a foreign couple watching all this from in the picnic site, and they never left their table calmly eating their breakfast! while us locals were seeking shelter and debating the slower sprinters amongst us.

Forgot to say that my son was taking video of the whole incident, mostly of the walls on the inside of the loo with occasional footage of the rouge. That ellie looks very much like the tusker in the photos. Its also amazing how I managed to take on the shape of some of the uprights under the thatch roof. I guess one must always be aware of whats around you, don't think that just because there are people around that the animals will simply stay away. The other family who were under the roof were totally unaware that the elephants were so near until I told them. During the siege we could hear an owlet calling, and afterwards with the help of Phinius we managed to find it.

Me and my dad were at Mooiplaas when an old bull Elephant walked right up to where we made breakfast. He was calm and after eating some leaves he walked off through the Mopani bushes.. We spoke to the man taking care of Mooiplaas and he said that he knows that specific bull, and that he's always calm when visiting. Nice experience and a couple of nice photo's...

In May we stopped for what we had planned as an urgent toilet break at Mlondozi Picnic Site and when getting out of the car we saw some elephants off a bit in the distance. What we didn't see until the attendant came running up to us was another ellie, right next to the toilets, munching away. Suddenly things became less urgent... eventually he moved off a bit and the attendant said it was safe to go inside, it was crazy to see an elephant through the bathroom window !

The ellie kept on eating, more people arrived and a few of us were behind a car watching from what we considered a respectable distance. All of a sudden a young chap of less than 2 years appears, alone, running right towards the ellie ! At the last second he veered off into the ladies room (maybe 5 meters from the ellie) and before any of us could react.The attendant was hot on his heels to get him out. The parents were not watching him at all, too busy making lunch . The boy was really lucky, the ellie never flinched and just kept on with his lunch.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum